


Faith And Trust

by wayfindering



Series: Towards The Sun - The First Year [4]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Cute, Deleted Scene, Extra Scene, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Multi, New Relationship, RikuRoku - Freeform, Romance, Sappy, Sweetness, pre-content content, rikurokuweek, takes place between rkrk day 3 and day 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 09:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20424038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayfindering/pseuds/wayfindering
Summary: The Unversed are back and Roxas is the first to encounter them. Before he takes off on a new mission to deal with the infestation, he spends some quality time with Xion and then his new boyfriend Riku. Extra scene/Prologue to "Worth My Soul"





	Faith And Trust

**Author's Note:**

> rikuroku week 2019 || day 3.5 or more accurately pre-day-4 || no prompt
> 
> I'm weak. I need fluff. Also I wrote out the setup for the mission they go on in the day 4 fic. So. Also a slight teaser. Enjoy. lol

“Unversed?!” Roxas shouted, dumbfounded. He’d only heard of these in stories from the others. He never expected to see one.

Let alone a whole swarm of the purple-black spiky things. He ran one through with Oblivion, relieved that it responded similar to the heartless.

"I guess it was too much to hope that they’d stay gone this time,” Terra called back, taking out a swath of them on the other end of the plaza.

They weren’t terribly strong but it wasn’t their strength that was worrisome to begin with. This was the Castle of Dreams. Just an average day on mop-up patrol. The Unversed shouldn’t be here. They shouldn’t exist at all.

Also, they were creepy as hell. Every time Roxas slashed through one, he swore he heard his name. A hissing, slippery voice fading away on the word, "Roxxasss."

Roxas finished off his lot in no time and met back up with Terra in the open square. The keyblade master looked grim, eyes shadowed.

“This means Vanitas, doesn’t it?” Roxas asked. He dismissed one keyblade but spun the other, agitatedly, on high alert for more of the creatures.

“I don’t know what else to think,” Terra responded. “But let’s check back in at the Land of Departure. Maybe someone else has news.”

“Yeah,” Roxas agreed. Terra kicked his keyblade armour into gear and took off. Roxas hesitated a moment as one more Unversed caught his eye. It was very small and not acting hostile. He warily watched it approach.

It didn't attack him, and he wasn't sure why but that gave him pause. He shook his head, going with his instinct and, pretending he'd never seen it, followed after Terra.

  


\----

  


“Unversed?” Aqua exclaimed. Déjà vu. “Did you see Vanitas?”

“No, just the Unversed.”

Should Roxas mention hearing his own name? He didn't want to sound paranoid or like an idiot--for all he knew, everyone heard their name hissed creepily as they killed Unversed.

A reflective silence had settled over the room. Aqua sent for all full wielders currently in-world to join them in the main audience chamber: Xion, Lea, Ven, and Naminé were here. So Riku hadn't made it back this afternoon after all.

“I’ll go,” Ven said, stepping forward into the ring of what was mostly his friends.

There was a pause. Ven's voice echoed oddly on the stone walls. Everyone had expected this, but nobody wanted it. Roxas filled the awkward silence on autopilot.

“Oh, shut up,” he said. “It’s what Vanitas wants, obviously.”

Ven seemed taken aback. Roxas wondered if he'd crossed a line.

“Roxas is right,” Riku chimed in, stepping through the door on the other side of the room, catching Roxas's eyes and holding them for a moment, corners softening just slightly. 

For a second Roxas breathed in fresh mountain air, swept away to a skyfront beach, ghost of warm pressure on his hand.

With Riku away on his mysterious stealth mission, he hadn't heard that voice, seen those turquoise eyes turned on him since the morning after their date. Ten entire days ago. A few texts on the gummiphone were not enough; he had the ridiculous urge to just tackle Riku in front of everyone and hang on like an absolute gremlin.

Riku continued, “We need to approach this carefully. Vanitas might have obvious motives but especially untethered from Xehanort, no doubt he's craftier than we've given him credit for.”

Heart rhythms pulsed and spun through the space around them, emotions in turmoil, and Roxas couldn't pick out the strains of Riku's heart specifically. But he looked okay.

“We won’t make the mistakes of the past," Terra said firmly.

“Ven, you need to stay safe this time. You’re the one he’s after. I know you’re connected, but that doesn’t mean you should be in the line of fire.” Aqua spoke sense; she was a good leader in spite of her tendency to coddle Ven. And in this case it wouldn't hurt to keep Ven a little sheltered.

“Naminé, do you have any insight here?” Aqua deferred to their resident analyst.

“Vanitas was the one I couldn’t reach,” Naminé said, shrugging. “He’s too steeped in darkness for me to get a read on. That alone makes him dangerous enough. We should be wary, especially if he’s found a way to return.”

Ven slumped. He acted like he wasn’t allowed to have any fun. That couldn’t be further from the truth. He was such a weird kid sometimes.

Lea stepped over and slapped Ven on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. Let us get your back this time. Next time you can take the lead, okay?”  
  
Always quick to comfort and affirm, that was Lea. It warmed Roxas’s heart, even when it was directed at someone else. Even when it was directed at Ven. He didn't hate Ven, it was just complicated.

Sometimes he watched the face that wasn't his getting doted on, and it felt like what-if. Sometimes he was afraid to look in the mirror. He still worried who he'd see there looking back.

“Master Xion,” Aqua said. Roxas looked up, almost as attuned to their name as his own, even with the unfamiliar title. “Will you investigate this outbreak, track the source?”

Xion had passed their Mark of Mastery last week. Roxas had been scheduled too, but something came up. Something always seemed to come up. It was like Light itself didn’t want him to get anywhere in life. Still, Roxas was proud of them. _ Master Xion. _

If he wasn’t careful, all his friends would be masters before him, just on technicality. He stifled a laugh at the mental image. There were good reasons to have Mastery status. Strength wasn't really one of them, for him.

“Recon?” Xion asked.

“Yes. Keep the local premises secure and report back any information you find,” Aqua said. “Take one of the more advanced apprentices with you for field experience.”

"Aqua, I--"

"No, Ven." Aqua's voice was firm. "Not this time. We're done losing people. I'm done losing friends."

Ven quieted, finally. Roxas wondered, not for the first time, if _ he _ sounded that childish when he spoke, too, or if that was uniquely Ven.

"Roxas," Aqua addressed him and he turned his gaze on her. She didn't think he and Ven were alike, and she knew Ven best. That was good. Something to keep in mind.

"Yes, ma'am?" Roxas said, realising too late it sounded more like a sarcastic drawl than a respectful title. Damn his autopilot. Some days he felt so reserved and perceptive and in control, then the next he had no reins on his mouth. He was too distracted.

Luckily, they were all surrounded by friends and nobody seemed to be taking it hard. Naminé had a hand over her mouth, Xion and Terra had both just _snorted _at the same time, Riku's eyes were sparkling, and even Aqua couldn't help the corners of her mouth lifting slightly as her eyes grew fond.

"I'd like you to continue your patrols but increase the perimeter. While Xion looks into the first sightings, I'd like you to monitor the Unversed's spread."

"Wait, my patrols?" Roxas narrowed his eyes. They'd been Terra's as of this morning.

"Terra's needed here," Aqua clarified. Roxas held in his grousing. He hated solo missions. "Riku, I know you just got back, but--" 

"I'll go," Riku said firmly.

Roxas took it all back. He could _ kiss _ Aqua for this.

“Then we’re settled,” Aqua dismissed them. “Everyone else stay on course, duties as normal.”

  


\----

  


Xion’s new bed was _ awesome_. Roxas sprawled out in the center and sank gratefully into the plush luxury. Did Riku not have as much favour as Xion or was Xion just crafty? Either way, Roxas would much rather lay here than on Riku’s bed, which was barely half this size. He liked his boyfriend, sure, but some things were _ important_.

And after nearly a week of Xion's new bed, Roxas was already coming up with plans to force Riku to hang in here with the two of them. He didn't want to give this up.

A jingling thunk sounded a few inches from his head and Roxas barely felt the jostling. He would've seen Xion off anyway, but he was keeping them company while they packed to make the time pass faster; he _ still _ hadn't said hello to Riku, who'd gone into debriefing two hours ago, directly after the meeting.

Roxas felt the bed cradle every single curve and dip of his body and almost stopped caring. Almost. Maybe he could get a bed like this when he made Master. If he ever did, of course. That might be the best reason he'd heard yet, if so.

“I'm going to take Olette,” Xion said, and Roxas glanced over at them. They tossed an extra cloak and some light shoes in their bag. “She’s the most advanced apprentice, and could use some more hands-on before she graduates the program.”

Olette manifesting a keyblade in Roxas’s room at 3 in the morning, demanding he call up his “keyblade people” and let her into the school, had been one of the most shocking things that had happened to Roxas in months. And he’d started dating Riku just the day before it happened, so that was saying something.

“I’m pretty sure Aqua hoped I’d take Red, but she should know better than to leave choices up to me. Maybe she thinks I’ll be better now that I’m a master,” Xion snickered.

“Faith in your altruism” Roxas agreed with a grin, “will be Aqua’s downfall.”

“I always get what I want. And right now I want an easy apprentice. And to stay the hell away from Red. Bastard.” Xion tossed a book into their bag for emphasis.

“Olette’s a good choice. She’s moving so fast she really should be on more missions anyway,” Roxas affirmed. Xion probably didn’t need the reassurance, but it was habit by now.

Roxas closed his eyes in the comfortable silence and sunk into their familiar aura. Home.

"Hey, Xion," he drawled absently, threading the needle of his timing just right in the comfortable atmosphere.

"Mmm?" they replied between the sound of folding something.

"Have you kissed anyone yet?" Roxas kept his tone vague and waited for the actual words to catch up with his friend.

He focused on cues from their aura and opened his eyes again just in time to see Xion's go wide, face flushed red.

"Oh yeah, who?" Roxas prodded, snickering at their reaction. "And," he added with an air of mock-hurt, "I can't believe you didn't tell _ me, _ your best friend!"

Xion loosened back up at that and calmly threw a shoe at his head. Roxas raised his hand and caught it, still cackling.

"Even if I _ did _ tell you everything, which I _ obviously don't, _ you're only one of _ two _best friends and you've just been demoted to the second slot. Besides, it--it only happened last night. I haven't had a chance to process, ass," Xion said, sticking their tongue out in his direction.

Roxas calmed down and sat up, tossing the shoe back to Xion, who tucked it back into their bag with its pair. "D'you want to? I'm free right now, you know," he softened the edge in his voice enough to confirm his sincerity.

"It was Naminé," Xion cut to the point.

Roxas wasn't surprised. He could see their hearts when they were together. They flowed in some kind of way he couldn't describe. Like music.

"She was hanging out in here writing some outline for a theory she's working on," Xion continued. They snapped closed their bag and climbed up onto the bed in front of Roxas, cross-legged, blue eyes wide and focused.

"I was reading, we were just laying on the bed, my head was in her lap. All of a sudden she set aside her notebook, took the book I was reading out of my hands and asked if she could kiss me. I--I didn't really think about it. I think I was shocked. I said yes. And she cupped my cheek and leaned down and kissed me!"

Xion touched their fingertips to their lips, then, and their cheeks flushed again, this time dusting only a light pink as the memory came back.

Roxas felt that curling sweetness he got in his chest when his friends were too precious for words. It was probably one of his weaknesses. He didn't care. His friends were fucking cute. Convention could suck it.

"Then she put my book back in my hands, picked up her notebook again, and finished her outline," Xion continued after a second. "Danced off to bed an hour later like nothing was different."

"Wow," Roxas said dutifully.

"I just sort of...went to sleep after that. My mind was a puddle. Today I've been nonstop busy and now I'm going on a mission. I'm going to talk to her when I get back, though."

"Good. Don't let it get awkward. That's just dumb," Roxas said. "So, what was it like?"

Xion shrugged out of their reverie. "Warm. Brief. Like skin. It was...more pleasant, because it was Naminé. It tingled and lingered."

Their voice shifted lower then, singsong and teasing, eyes and heart taking on a silvery strand of mirth. "Why, think you need a leg up before Riku? Think you won't live up to his experienced standards, his high expectations? Need some..._ practise?" _

Xion tried to waggle their eyebrows. It was the worst thing Roxas had ever seen. He burst out laughing just as Xion dissolved into a fit and he shoved them over on the bed, sending them sprawling on the multicoloured duvet, still clutching their sides.

When they finally came down from their high, Roxas was flat on his back next to Xion, staring up at the fairy lights strung across their ceiling. They were a soothing kind of light and both he and Xion had taken to them immediately after the first night they hung out in Riku's room.

Roxas rolled his head to the side so it pressed against Xion's shoulder. _ Home. _

"I don't think I'm nervous," he said candidly. "Just curious. Not sure what he expects, yet. I just want to know what I do."

"Seems sensible."

"I usually am."

"No, you're usually clever and perceptive and an annoying ass," Xion corrected matter-of-factly. "You're too brash and impulsive to be sensible very often."

"Oh, and you're sensible?"

"Nope." Roxas could hear the grin in their voice. "I'm the sensitive badass, leather and lace. Anarchy or bust. With extra cheese pizza."

He snickered. "Seems about right. Oh. Oh fuck. Does that make Lea the sensible one?"

They dissolved into giggles again, until Roxas's alarm clock went off on his gummiphone.

"Is that the alarm you set me?" Xion asked. They had to set a good example for Olette as a Master, Roxas supposed, or he'd probably sweet-talk them into five more minutes.

"Yep. Riku's still in debriefing, I guess. I'll go hang out in the common room."

Roxas groaned and stretched as he levered himself off the bed. Xion beat him and gave him a hand up out of the cushiony depths before swinging their bag over their shoulder. He bid farewell to the siren song of coziness with a pat.

"Be safe," he wished Xion, gathering them into a hug, bag and all.

"You too," Xion whispered back, squeezing him tight, burying their face in his shoulder. One of the good types of hugs; they rarely skimped. "May your heart be your guiding key."

He walked them the few steps to the end of the hallway and leaned against the wall, watching them round the next corner and eventually settling his gaze on the blank wall.

He caught the barest scrape of boot on stone, the faintest glimmer of an approaching heart, just in time to not embarrass himself falling to the floor in surprise when Riku said--

“Hey.”

Warmth suffused Roxas, curling in and around him like stepping outside on a sunny summer’s day. He spun to see Riku coming up behind him, smile tired but genuine. Roxas suppressed the urge once again to throw himself at his boyfriend, at least until he’d gotten some rest. His heart was tired in more ways than one, he was all out of words, he probably needed to sleep for a year, and he’d still sought out Roxas.

The thought made all that warmth curl up somewhere lovely in Roxas’s chest, almost-painful in its preciousness.

So instead of leaping and shouting, Roxas took a few steps forward and met Riku head-on, reaching up to brush a hand over his shoulder and up into his hair, pulling him down into a hug. He brought his other arm up to wrap around Riku’s broad shoulders and just held him.

Riku seemed slightly taken aback but too tired to do more than lean gratefully into the support, stooping over in the middle of the hallway, hands coming up to rest lightly on Roxas’s hips. Tension drained out of Riku; Roxas was satisfied to feel him slump down an extra few inches just in the minute or two they were close.

Breathing in and out at a steady rate, Roxas focused on their hearts in proximity to each other, on his lips pressed softly in a barely-there kiss to the side of Riku’s head, on his hand slowly carding through silver hair. _ Home _. This was home, too.

Subdued reunion or not, Roxas felt a piece of himself fit back together again now that Riku was here. The world was _ right. _ He thrilled, but as quietly as possible.

“Welcome back,” Roxas finally said.

“Mm,” Riku mumbled into Roxas’s shoulder, then slowly pulled away, regret on his face. He didn’t seem to want to stop touching Roxas, though, and one of his hands grabbed Roxas’s as he stood up straight, lacing the fingers together. Jade green eyes looked down at Roxas fondly enough to make him blush.

A small piece of Roxas wanted to lash out with snark in self-defense. Call Riku some name, make some joke, brush off the intimacy. But he shoved that piece aside. He could give Riku a break this once; he looked absolutely drained and whispers of melancholy were hovering at the edges of his heart. What had he been up to? Had it gone so poorly?

Roxas knew he wouldn’t get any answers tonight. He wasn’t sure he’d get any answers at all, but definitely not tonight. Maybe tomorrow once they were on the first leg of their journey.

“What time is it, anyway?” Riku asked.

“Just after supper time, now. I ate earlier, but I’m probably gonna raid the kitchens before I head back to the dorm, if you wanna go with me,” Roxas offered.

Ten days, but he hadn’t lost the ability to read Riku. That was good. At the moment, traces of hesitancy and longing were flickering at the edges of Riku’s expression. He wanted something and wasn’t sure how to ask.

Roxas studied Riku’s face: the softening jawline, the lips not quite pursed, the eyes distant and pinched at the corners. Microexpressions. The heart, tugging on his own. Roxas felt him out, wondering who would win the race—his perceptiveness or Riku’s mustering courage.

Was it food-related? He wanted to go with Roxas? He didn’t want to go with Roxas? Too tired? Maybe he wanted to have Roxas bring him back something before he returned to the d—no, oh. To not have Roxas go back to his dorm?

He needed company.

“How about I go grab us something and we can hang out in your room for awhile?” Roxas cast out a line.

Riku nodded gratefully, relieved, but not fully. So Roxas was right. Riku wanted him to stay tonight but wasn’t sure if that was something he was allowed to ask. That was...sweet.

Roxas hoped it would be easier to figure out how to be boyfriends than friends; the road to friendship had been annoyingly rocky. This was a good start.

They’d head out tomorrow. Their first mission together, and an important one. For now, they could rest.

“I’d like that,” Riku managed, still not quite saying what he meant.

In the end, between snacks and chatter and silence and drifting to sleep in each other’s arms, it turned out Riku didn’t even have to ask.


End file.
